Rotterdam History, Netherlands

Rotterdam History seems to date back to the year 900 when the first settlement had lived on this land. During those early historical years this land was famous by the name of Rotte or by the name Rotta. The word Rotta had come from the word rot which meant muddy and as the presence of water around the region had made it look like a fen (which is a kind of wet land) hence this was the most suitable name. All this had started during the year 900.

Rotterdam History - Step One towards Development

It was around the year 1150 when a huge flood struck the region. It was this huge flood that halted all sorts of development work which was going on in this region. Even life came to a halt due to this serious flood. It was this heavy flood due to which the local government went on to develop dams and dikes on the Nieuwe Maas River. The most famous of these dikes was Schielands Hoge Zeedijk (which meant Schielands High Sea Dike). It was the year 1260 when another damn was built in the area which is today called as Hoogstart (which means High Street).

Rotterdam History - Rotterdam Becomes a City

It was the year 1340 when this small town was tagged as a city by Count Willem Four from Holland. At that time the population for Rotterdam was around 2000 inhabitants. The tag of a city was enough to take the development of the city to the next level. By the year 1350 this city was gifted with its own shipping canal which was named as Rotterdamse Schie. This connected the city with the major towns of the northern region and started various possible business level activities with neighboring countries like Germany, England, and Holland. Development was running at its best for Rotterdam.

Rotterdam History - Port

By the year 1872 Rotterdam had its own port which was named as Nieuwe Waterwag. By the year 1898 the city had its own skyscraper which was called as Witte Huis (which meant White House Skyscraper). At that time this was the tallest building in Europe with the height being around 45 meters.

The city progress did halt during the World War due to invasion by Germany but after the 1950s it was rebuilt with more precision. The hard work of the locals and the government clearly reflects in this newly built city.

We have many such guides in our archives and once you are done reading Rotterdam History then do remember to give some time to them too.

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  Rotterdam is a city in South Holland, Netherlands with a population of approximately 590 000 inhabitants in the city itself and 1 600 000 inhabitants in the metropolitan area. This is a port city, is part of the ports of departure for the big transatlantic. Rotterdam became a city officially in...

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